No diploma needed in Border Patrol, and critics are worried

Critics call Border Patrol standards laxRecruits are accepted without a high school diploma or GED

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, April 1, 2008

As the U.S. Border Patrol expands into one of the nation's largest federal law enforcement agencies, critics say it should establish minimum educational requirements and end a long-standing policy of accepting recruits without a high school diploma or GED.

Concerns about Border Patrol's hiring efforts come as the agency races to satisfy a Bush administration mandate to have 18,319 agents on the job by December. In the last year, the agency has been criticized for taking too many shortcuts, such as cutting its academy training schedule, as part of the biggest recruitment campaign in its history.

Recruiting standards are higher at most other federal law enforcement agencies. For example, a college degree and three years of professional experience are required by FBI agent recruits. The Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff's Office require not only high school, but two years of college.

One Houston immigrant-rights advocate expressed shock that Border Patrol didn't require a high school diploma.

''You're kidding. Oh my God, I always thought they had to have high school at least," said Maria Jimenez, a longtime monitor of Border Patrol abuses.

An agency official said it's likely the agency has hired agents who weren't high school graduates, but he could not provide statistics.

''Since that has not been a requirement since our inception, it stands to reason that we would have had agents who did not have a high school education or GED, however few those may be," said Lloyd Easterling, a Border Patrol assistant chief for security operations.

While recent agency records are not available, 12 percent to 14 percent of the agency's new hires from fiscal years 1994 to 1998 had only a high school diploma or a GED. The rest had at least some college or higher education.

''The vast majority of our agents do have at least a high school education, and many, many have a college education," Easterling said.

He said since the Border Patrol's inception in 1924, there has been no education mandate.

"When we first began to recruit, many of our first qualified applicants were World War I veterans who'd been raised on ranches," Easterling said. "The high school diploma requirement was left out intentionally. Instead, we've relied upon a combination of experience and education and a series of tests, including the Border Patrol exam and academy and post-academy training."

'Tremendous pressure'

"We have no evidence they are enforcing any kind of education requirement," Bonner said. "I wish they would."

The Houston Police Department requires applicants to have a high school diploma or a GED and 60 hours of college classes. Veterans with two years of military experience, or officers with five years of previous experience, can apply, but in both instances, the applicants must have completed high school.

''Well, it's surprising to me. It's the first I've heard of it," George Buenik, assistant chief of the professional development command at the Houston Police Department, said about the Border Patrol policy. ''I'm not going to comment on that — they got to do what they got to do to hire people."

Border Patrol officials on Monday said 15,550 agents are on the payroll, up from 10,637 agents in 2003. Bonner said the hiring wave has diluted the quality of recruits and lowered morale for senior agents.

To draw more interest, the age limit for recruits has been raised to 40 from 37. A new Spanish test instituted last year allows those who pass it to shave 30 more days from their academy training.

Government investigators have raised warning flags about a shortage of experienced agents to provide on-the-job training after new agents leave the academy.

Bonner said he was concerned about changes to academy requirements and questioned whether the agency is completing background checks in a timely manner. He and others have said Border Patrol background investigations, now done by private contractors, are not as thorough as when the FBI and other agencies did them.

"They're under tremendous pressure to bring people on board," he said. " ... and unfortunately, corners are being cut to achieve a meaningless political goal. The real goal should be to secure the border."

''What they're getting now is, frankly, pretty disappointing," said Bill King, who directed the Border Patrol academy from 1977 to 1978 and is retired. ''They just seem to have lowered the standard where it would have been unacceptable to me. It's a difficult thing for me to say because I love the Border Patrol."